


Anew

by UndeadFae



Series: Finding family [1]
Category: Inazuma Eleven, Inazuma Eleven GO
Genre: Adopted Children, Adoption, Established Relationship, Family Bonding, Fluff, M/M, gensaku marriage is also a hill i will die on, i will die on a lot of hills, og adopting go kids is a hill i will die on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22810318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UndeadFae/pseuds/UndeadFae
Summary: It all started when Genda met that kid in the park. It all went downhill from there.
Relationships: Genda Koujirou/Sakuma Jirou
Series: Finding family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1798843
Comments: 12
Kudos: 36





	Anew

**Author's Note:**

> i dunno what to say to justify this, you can pry my hcs from my cold, dead, unfeeling hands.

Something not everyone knew about Genda was that despite his usually stoic attitude around others (Sakuma being the exception), he was fairly good with children. Maybe it was his protective nature that always pushed him to take in one more stray than what he could handle, maybe it was his patience and how at ease he could make nearly anyone feel, but kids were always drawn to him. And so when they started asking him to play soccer with them, he could hardly refuse. Whenever Sakuma was too busy with his own work, he just decided to go to the closest park instead and play a bit with the children. After a few weeks, he knew exactly how to keep them entertained. The parents thanked him just as much as they did.

And that was how he met him.

The first time he saw the kid, he was wrapping up an improvised match with a tiny group. A lonely child, no older than six or seven, clutching a soccer ball while he glared at everyone else. Something definitely wasn't right. "What's up with that kid?" Some of the parents just glanced and shrugged or stared in confusion. After a few moments, one of the children decided to speak up.

"He's always alone! We tried to ask him to play, but he didn't want to come..."

"Is that so...?"

There was something painfully familiar in that sight, the memory of a kid with an eye patch pushing everyone away fresh on his mind. That was probably what convinced Genda to approach and talk to him.

"Hey kid, is everything ok?"

In hindsight, suddenly approaching what looked like a lonely upset kid wasn't his greatest idea. At least his reflexes were still good enough to catch the ball thrown at him before it hit him in the face.

"That's not nice, you know?" Despite that, he kept his voice low and kind, offering the ball back to him. The kid just glared, then rushed to take it back. Before Genda could say anything else, he ran away, ignoring the protests being nearly shouted at him.

Well, that didn't go well.

* * *

A few days had passed when Genda finally saw the kid again.

He was still in the same park as before, this time trying -and failing- to kick the ball against a tree. He was still alone. Genda knew he should've just left the kid alone and minded his own business... and yet something felt so wrong and familiar in that sight, he couldn't bring himself to walk away like that. He didn't need to think twice before deciding to try again.

This time, he made sure of letting the kid see him while he stepped closer. He stopped bouncing his ball, catching it to glare at this stranger. Genda just stopped, raising his hands in a placating gesture.

"It's alright, I'm not here to hurt you- I'm Genda Koujirou, and you? What's your name?" He didn't reply right away. Genda just kept waiting with his ever patient smile.

"... Reiichi." He hesitated for a moment. Genda just blinked in confusion. No last name? That didn't sound right. He decided to worry over that later, though.

"Alright, nice to meet you then!" Then, he pointed at the ball. "Do you like soccer?" After a bit, the kid nodded. Genda smiled back. "That's great! I'm a soccer player, you know? I could play with you if you'd like."

"... Really?" He sounded skeptical. Genda couldn't really blame him.

"Yup- I'm a goalkeeper! Want to play for a bit? I'll show you!"

As much as he tried to tone it down for the sake of not upsetting the kid even further, Genda still ended up with quite the advantage. He claimed to have lost count a while in anyways. It seemed to be enough to satisfy the kid, though- there was no hiding the spark in his eyes.

"I guess you had fun today then- wanna play again?"

The kid quickly nodded in answer.

* * *

Something was different that day.

Genda was walking a lot later through the park, just for starters, the sun already on its way to set, streaks of purple fading the warmth of the sky away. He had decided to busy himself with helping his husband with coaching, leaving just a bit earlier than him to pick up a few things from the store for dinner. It was too late to find any kids still playing around. Or so he thought.

Distracted as he was planning everything he had to prepare for dinner, he almost didn't feel the hesitant tug on his sleeve. Almost.

When he looked down, Reiichi was there, nearly clinging to his sleeve and refusing to let go. His heart sank a little at the sight.

"W-what- what are you doing here at this hour?" Reiichi just shook his head. "... Where are your parents?" At that question, his grip on the fabric grew tighter, his tiny hands refusing to let go. Genda didn't like this one bit.

The answer he got wasn't any more pleasant.

"... Dunno." It was quiet, barely audible. It didn't make him feel any better.

What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't possibly take this child with him, right? What if his parents came looking for him and couldn't find him? That could only end badly for him... and yet he couldn't bring himself to just leave this child alone.

"Alright... I can't just leave you here..." Sighing, he took Reiichi's hand, carefully pulling him closer to a bench to sit down and look him over. He didn't seem to be doing too badly, at least, loneliness aside. That thought didn't make him feel that much better. "Are you hungry? Cold?" Two quiet nods. He just decided to play it safe and take that as a yes to both questions. And so he pulled off his jacket to drape it over the kid's shoulder, to then go through his groceries and fetch a chocolate bar. Good thing that Sakuma's endless craving for sugar always made him buy some. Reiichi seemed to appreciate that too.

And so, he waited for someone, anyone to show up. And waited. And kept waiting and waiting.

The more time passed, the more something shifted uncomfortably in his stomach.

It was starting to get way too late, and Reiichi was about to doze off leaning against him. Enough was enough.

When he stood up and stretched a bit, Reiichi sat straight up, now completely awake, eyes wide in alarm as he scrambled to get off the bench and grab Genda's sleeve.

"It's alright, don't worry. I'm not leaving you alone." With that, he knelt to be at his eye level. "Can I take you to my home? You can't stay out here all alone, but I have to go back." By now Sakuma was definitely starting to get worried. He made a mental note of sending a text as soon as he started walking back.

"... Is it really okay?"

"I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't." For a moment, Reiichi was quiet, considering. Then, he quickly nodded.

"Alright then." Genda offered his hand. Reiichi didn't wait to take it. "Let's go home."

* * *

After all the years they had spent first as friends, then dating, followed by their marriage, Sakuma could pride himself in saying he knew Genda very well. He wasn't surprised anymore when Genda came home with stray cats in his arms and a promise that he was taking them to the shelter the next day, just sighing and asking him to watch the tiny demons before they broke something. On the bright side, he was pretty good at keeping said promises if the two cats in their apartment were anything to go by.

What he didn't expect was Genda showing up late with a child wearing his jacket and clinging to his leg, glaring from behind him despite his best attempts to hide. He blinked. The kid hid a bit more.

"... Explain?" He didn't mean to make it sound like a question, but there were already enough of those running through his head as it was to bring out his usual temper- not like he would've anyways. Not in front of a kid.

Genda didn't answer right away, running a hand through his hair with a hesitant chuckle before moving to pick up the child. He immediately clung to his neck.

"Jirou, this is Reiichi- he isn't much of a talker, but he's a good kid. Reiichi, this is my husband, Jirou." Sakuma decided to stubbornly ignore how Genda's dumb smile at the word 'husband' made his heart do a little flip. He wasn't a lovestruck dumbass teenager anymore, damn it- except then Genda moved to kiss him and he most definitely melted. Just a little, though.

He was about to try and pick one of the tons of questions he wanted to ask when Genda shot him a suddenly serious look. Not now, he was saying.

"... We'll talk later." Genda smiled in relief, his silent thanks for understanding. Then, he turned to the kid.

"You hungry? I'll make you something if you want." The kid- Reiichi nodded, and Genda started walking towards the kitchen. "Come on, Jirou, I know you were waiting for me."

Now, Sakuma wasn't exactly fond of kids. He didn't hate them by any means, but they simply were more than what he was willing to handle, especially with a short temper like his. He just didn't have the patience for endless crying and tantrums.

When Genda showed up with the child, he was honestly preparing for arguments and a headache. He didn't expect said child to just quietly sit at the table while they talked and made dinner, not once complaining about being hungry or thirsty or anything kids usually whined about, watching them in silence as he snuggled into the jacket. Kids shouldn't be so quiet and subdued, whatever happened to him wasn't pretty. He knew that from experience.

Dinner was quieter than usual, if not a bit awkward. They just talked about their day, what they had to work on, anything that irritated Sakuma and so on. Their unexpected guest eagerly ate in silence, quickly finishing his plate. He kept looking at it for a while, though.

"If you want more all you have to do is ask." Reiichi just glanced at Genda before quickly offering his plate.

"... Please?" Genda just smiled in answer as he offered him a second serving- and goddamnit he was so stupidly cute and kind and caring with that warm, bright and pretty smile- Sakuma quickly looked down to focus on his food before he could feel himself combust.

A meal later, and Reiichi was already dozing off, stubbornly trying to stay awake. Genda was the first to get up, careful of not disturbing the child.

"I guess it's time for bed..."

After some digging around in their closet, they managed to find an old futon from their time at their first, much cheaper apartment. Genda wasn't really happy accomodating Reiichi with that, but they didn't really have many options. The fact that the child wasn't complaining didn't help Genda feel better.

As soon as Reiichi was asleep, Sakuma turned to Genda, his expression growing serious.

"What happened." It wasn't a question. Genda just sighed, glancing at the bedroom, arms crossed and eyes narrowing.

"I... I saw him for the first time in the park a few days ago while I was playing with the other kids. He was alone and no one even knew who his parents were... so I talked to him." A pause. He sort of looked away as he ran a hand through his hair. "Well, it was more like me trying to talk while he threw a ball at me- but anyways, I've been kinda looking out for him...? No one else seemed to be doing that, so..." Sakuma already knew where this was going.

"Koujirou..." This wasn't going to be easy. He has known for years how fiercely protective Genda could become- it was one of those things he loved about him. He has also known for just as long how much he hated beng powerless, being forced to stand back and watch when he could even just try to help. "This isn't the same as finding a stray cat."

"I know..." And he wasn't happy.

"We can't take that child in." Genda was ready to protest before Sakuma raised his hands to cut him off. "I'm not happy about his situation either, but you know there's a lot more legal trouble involved!"

"I'll deal with it then! We can afford it, money isn't a problem!" And there was his usual stubbornness.

"I know it isn't- listen, I'm not... saying no... but it's not so easy- you don't even know if his parents are willing to give him up for adoption." Genda sighed, yet didn't argue back right away. At least he was seeing his point.

"Alright... sorry, I just..." Even without saying anything else, Sakuma understood his struggle.

"... Let's just go to sleep, ok? We'll figure it out tomorrow." Genda just quietly nodded, a frown on his face. Sakuma took his hands, thumbs gently rubbing the back of his hands, tracing old scars in an attempt to reassure him, to comfort him and remind him that he wasn't alone in this. When he looked up, faint hints of a smile tugging at his lips, Sakuma pulled him into a kiss. It was brief, but it was what Genda needed. "Stop worrying so much, we'll figure something out, alright?" He nodded in a silent answer, looking at least a bit more relieved than before. Then it was his turn to pull Sakuma into a kiss.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

The trip to the social services was a stressful one. Despite the nice day, Genda could hardly keep himself calm, so many doubts and questions haunting him. What if they took Reiichi away? What if his real parents were worse than he expected? What if they hurt him? Or worse? What if he wasn't allowed to see the kid agin? Or-

"Love, calm down, you're scaring the kid." -Sakuma gently squeezing his hand in support snapped him out of the spiral of doubts and fears. Reiichi was clinging tightly to his other hand, staring up at him with wide, startled eyes. With a soft sigh, Genda knelt down to pick up the child, effortlessly carrying him with one arm.

"Sorry, I was just being stupid- it's alright, don't worry." Reiichi still looked a bit unsure, deciding to quietly cling to his neck instead. Genda couldn't blame him for being nervous.

The office... really wasn't as bad as Genda had expected. The reception lady even went as far as offering Reiichi a box of crayons and plenty of paper to pass the time. He sat on the floor with them, now more at ease than before, carefully pulling them out one by one and started drawing. The wait was killing Genda a little less now. Sakuma wasn't letting go of his hand, his silent way of comforting and reassuring him. It was working. Up til the moment they were called in, anyways- then the nerves were back at full force. Genda simply scrambled to pick up a protesting child while Sakuma helped him pick up his artwork and crayons.

Inside, the social services agent welcomed them, gesturing for them to take a seat with a warm smile. Genda held the child a bit tighter as he sat down. Sakuma reached out to gently squeeze his hand, to remind him it was alright. With a weak nod, Genda took a deep breath and explained everything. The agent carefully listened and took note, only speaking up to chime in with a few questions for clarification. When she seemed satisfied with the interrogatory, she put away her pen and notebook.

"Well, before we proceed we'll need to find his parents." She looked down at Reiichi. Genda bit his tongue to keep quiet. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" He didn't reply at first, glaring at her as he tried to hide into Genda's jacket as if that was enough to make her go away. As much as he wanted to just tell her to stop, Genda limited himself to patting Reiichi's head to reassure him. Some more coaxing later, a now very grumpy kid reluctantly answered her questions. Now he just felt guilty seeing Reiichi so upset.

"Well, that's enough. We'll get in touch once we find out something about his parents. Meanwhile we'll send the kid to a temporary foster home." Reiichi stared confused. In a few minutes, all hell broke loose.

In the end, no one could convince Reiichi to let go of Genda, absolutely refusing to even be touched by anyone other than him or Sakuma and fighting by any means necessary. The tired agent had no choice but letting him stay with them until their research was concluded. Genda didn't mind in the slightest. The reception lady was nice enough to let him keep the crayons, though.

Reiichi demanded to be carried as soon as they left the building. Genda happily obliged.

"You're going to spoil him, you know?" Genda grinned like the idiot he is. Sakuma sighed to hide his own smile.

"It's fine, don't worry- so, what do you want for lunch? I'll cook." Reiichi perked up at that.

"Burger. And ice cream."

"Alright, let's go to the store."

* * *

The next day, Genda got up early -for a weekend, anyways-, claiming he had some important thing to do and kindly asking his husband to watch over Reiichi. Any will to refuse that Sakuma had threw itself out of the window as soon as Genda looked at him with those goddamn puppy eyes of his and planted a kiss on his cheek. This stupid, beautiful man was going to kill him one day, seriously.

Well, the kid wasn't rowdy like others his age, watching over him couldn't be so hard, right? He could just focus on his work anyways. The kid would be fine.

Or so he thought.

The kid glanced at him from the sofa as soon as he stepped into the room, quickly looking at the TV again like he was trying as hard as he could to avoid him. Or something like that. Not a good sign, anyways.

"Is there a problem?" Reiichi half-glared at him. There was something else in it.

"... You don't like me." It wasn't a question. Sakuma flinched, yet couldn't bring himself to be mad. It wasn't like he didn't understand.

"T-that's not it-" He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Why did Genda insist on leaving him alone with a kid, again? Reiichi was still glaring at him, waiting for an answer. "Listen... I'm not good with kids- but I do like you, really-! Fuck, I'm bad at this..." Cutting himself off, Sakuma took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel like that- I just... I was scared of hurting you... or not being good enough... Koujirou and I really care about you! He's just better at this than me..." Reiichi quietly stared at him in confusion. Sakuma really wanted to hope it was a good thing.

"So you want me?"

"O-of course I do! Actually-" Sakuma quickly stood up, all the papers he was bringing in hastily stuffed back in their folder. "-I can work later, now we can do what you want, alright?" Well, that definitely cheered up the kid. Sakuma only hoped that this wouldn't end in disaster.

When Genda came back, Sakuma was fast asleep on the couch, Reiichi snuggled into his lap with a penguin held tight in his grasp, colors, papers and other things scattered all over the room, the tv nothing more than background noise. Stiffling a chuckle, he quietly turned off the tv, gently shaking Sakuma's shoulder in an attempt to wake him up. Some groaning and stirring later, a grumpy Sakuma was reluctantly waking up, still holding Reiichi close. Genda couldn't hold back his smile.

* * *

Despite not even knowing what would happen with the kid yet, that day Genda boldly declared that they were going to the clothing store for him. He was way too attached to a child that wasn't even theirs by now. Sakuma couldn't bring himself to voice his worries when he looked at his bright, hopeful smile. He just had to believe that it all would really be alright.

They ended up going to the store anyways. Somehow, they managed to compromise and, surprisingly, not get only penguin and cat themed clothes. Reiichi liked them all anyways.

Sakuma still didn't quite feel like he could properly take care of a child or even give him what he needed- scratch that, he was scared shitless by the idea of parenthood. When he looked at Reiichi smiling for the first time since they met him, snuggled in his brand new jacket and clinging to their hands, Genda talking to him with his stupidly bright grin, Sakuma couldn't hold back a soft smile. Maybe it wouldn't be so terrible... maybe he could do something good.

What was supposed to only be a quick trip to the store for clothes quickly turned into a full day at the mall. The kid had pretty much dragged them into every store he deemed remotely interesting- when that amounted to roughly 90% of the mall, Sakuma knew they were doomed. Genda didn't seem to care. The not so quick visit to the cafe for a dessert was pretty nice, though.

They finally headed back home late in the afternoon when Reiichi was ready to fall asleep where he stood. When Genda moved to pick him up, Sakuma stopped him on his tracks and picked him up himself.

"Don't worry, I can carry him this time." Genda's surprise quickly turned into a smile.

"Alright."

As soon as he adjusted the kid in his arms, Reiichi wrapped his arms around his neck with a yawn. He was struggling to keep his eyes open by then.

"Thank you... Papa and dad..."

For a moment, they both definitely died.

Reiichi was fast asleep by the time they got back. After they carefully tucked him in bed -the bed Genda insisted was now needed for their guest room, nothing more-, they headed to their own room, ready to collapse. Having a kid was more exhausting than either of them expected.

When they finally got changed and into bed, Genda quietly slipped his arms around his husband's waist from behind. Just holding him close in silence. Something didn't quite feel right.

"Hey... What's wrong?" Genda quietly sighed, hiding his face in the crook of his neck. Sakuma already knew what that means.

"I'm in way over my head with this, aren't I?"

"Koujirou..." Sakuma shifted into the hug to face him, a hand reaching out to gently cup his face, a thumb carressing his cheek as the other hand brushed his hair aside. "You're just trying to do something good. And I'm proud of you for that. Whatever happens, we'll do it together, alright?" With that, he pressed his lips against Koujirou's, a hand still tenderly stroking his hair. Genda let out a soft chuckle once he pulled back.

"You don't even like kids- what happened to you?" Sakuma rolled his good eye.

"I'm not good with kids, I never said I don't like them- besides, Reiichi is a good kid."

"If you say so..." And he stiffled a yawn. "Can we go to sleep now...?" Sakuma quietly nodded, stealing another kiss before snuggling closer to him to get comfortable.

"Night, love."

"Goodnight... I love you too..."

When Sakuma woke up in the middle of the night, he shifted a bit in his half asleep state to look at his husband. Genda had fallen asleep with his phone on his face, softly snoring as if the little hellish thing set on full brightness really wasn't bothering him.

"You big idiot..." Sakuma gently pried the phone from his hands. Before he could drop it on the nightstand, the article about adoption still flashing on the screen caught his eye. With a somewhat exasperated smile, he laid the phone on the nightstand, leaning in to kiss Genda's cheek before getting once again comfortable.

* * *

They got a call from the social services that day, requesting their presence, no more information. Genda could swear his heart stopped right there and then. Sakuma tried to reassure him, taking his hand for support, rubbing circles on the back of his hand with his thumb. Neither of them mentioned how unsteady Sakuma's hand was. Getting to the office couldn't have taken more than thirty minutes at most, yet it felt like hours. Walking into the place felt almost suffocating.

They sat down in the same lady's office, Reiichi once again on Genda's lap. She didn't make herself wait.

"The parents... I'll spare you the details, but they agreed to sign the papers. They've given their child up for adoption." There was something she wasn't telling them, that much Genda could tell, could see it in the way she gripped her pen tight enough to make her knuckles go white, in how forced her smile was and how hard she tried to keep up her professional facade. Whatever it was, he wasn't sure he wanted to know after taking a good look at her frown, lips pressed together so tightly they turned white under her lipstick. She briefly glanced at him before looking back at the papers neatly aligned on her desk. "The process will be a long one and will require a few visits... but I don't think there is any problem in letting you keep him- if he agrees to this." Reiichi was almost bouncing in his lap, tiny hands tightly holding his scarred ones.

"I wanna stay with papa and dad!" Sakuma flashed him a knowing smile. Genda's heart skipped a beat. "Well, that's settled. We can talk about all the paperwork now and get started."

They got past the paperwork and legal stuff as fast as possible, to say the least. Genda could feel his hand shaking as he signed the papers- if it was excitement, fear or something else entirely, he wasn't sure. Knowing the child sitting on his lap was their son now, he could survive whatever was making his heart jump like that. Feeling Sakuma's hand in his own certainly helped.

The moment they stepped out of that place, Genda felt a weight off his shoulders almost immediately. He looked over at his family and smiled.

"Let's go home."


End file.
